Needs at home & compassion for earthquake victims. Stopping the sanctions and threats of war.

Last Wednesday afternoon a group of 10 peace activists from the Women Against War Iran Project and our allies demonstrated and leafleted at the Empire State Plaza I Love NY food festival. It was our 6th annual Food Festival event. We handed out 230 leaflets during the hour vigil. In past years the leaflets shared facts and myths about Iran and focused on the need to change US policies that rely on severe sanctions and threats of war. This year we called attention to the high price that people in the US would pay for yet another war. In the interests of a thriving community we all need to work for a negotiated peace with Iran.

NO to WAR on IRAN

If you liked the loss of lives and resources of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you will love a war with Iran!

Reminder: How is the War Economy Working for You?

Did you know that so far this year Albany County’s contribution to the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is $ 34.7 million? That money could come home to:

Provide healthcare for 13,986 low- income children in our town or,

Hire 409 elementary school teachers or,

Convert 23,289 households in Albany to solar energy or,

Serve 3,546 military veterans with VA medical care for a year or,

Feed 16, 599 people with one year’s worth of groceries or,

Allow 4,140 low-income people to receive healthcare for one year or,

Hire 461 police for one year or,

Fund 5,783 scholarships to students, or

Enable 6, 260 students to receive Pell grants worth $5,550?

To bring this money back home, sayNo to War on Iran.

Why should you help prevent war on Iran?

An attack on Iran will lead to twice the human and financial cost as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, due to Iran’s large population and vast geography.

An attack on Iran would result in a sharp jump in oil prices causing a severe worldwide recession. According to the world renowned economist, Professor Nuriel Roubini, “Oil prices would jump by at least 50% and be a disaster for the world economy.”

If we attack Iran, Albany County alone will pay $70 million to fund the war machine. This is money that we can spend at home for education, healthcare, housing, better pensions, roads, environmental protection, job creation and all that we want for a better life and a better city.

Hands off Iran, Bring our war dollars home, artist Kim Kennedy

Severe sanctions that have been imposed on the people of Iran kill and maim the most vulnerable including the young, the poor, the sick and the elderly and women of all ages who need to care for their loved ones. You can read more about the effects of these sanctions on the Iranian people in an article posted just after the latest most severe US and EU sanctions went into effect. Here’s just a little of what Havaar had to say about the effects of the sanctions:

These increasingly aggressive measures together exacerbate the suffering of the Iranian people who are already facing the grave impact of sanctions and their government’s inequitable economic policies as they confront rising prices in food, medicines and other basic needs. These sanctions constitute collective punishment. They are not an “alternative to war,” but are war by other means. They are an assault on the lives and aspirations of the Iranian people, including their aspirations and struggles against state repression to create a just and meaningfully democratic society.

That statement was written in early July. Since then there has been a serious disaster in Iran. On Saturday, August 11th two back to back earthquakes struck the northwestern part of Iran, along the borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia. The 6.4 and 6.3 magnitude quakes killed 306 people and injured more than 3,000. The epicenter included the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, and surrounding villages where about 300,000 people lived. At least 12 villages were completely destroyed, and 425 villages had 50 to 80 percent of their buildings damaged.. The heavily damaged region has a population of about 300,000.

Most of the 306 fatalities were women and children. Many roads and other infrastructure were heavily damaged which made it difficult to reach the areas that were most affected. Relief workers distributed tents and helped survivors, mainly in rural areas but there was a shortage of shelters. Authorities estimated that the quake caused some $600 million in damage. Iran’s government said it has provided shelter for about 50,000 people who lost their homes during the quakes, which have been followed by at least 60 aftershocks. . Hospitals in the cities of Tabriz, Ardabil and other cities nearby took in many of the injured, and now there are still many people in need of food and water and other supplies. Uninjured Iranians stood in long lines in Tehran and other larger cities to donate blood to the injured.

During the first two days after the quakes, Tehran insisted it needed no foreign assistance to handle the situation. Then on Tuesday, Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said Iran is now welcoming International assistance for the quake victims.

On Tuesday 8/14,, there was another magnitude 5.3 earthquake that hit the city of Tabriz and the village of Varzaquan. No one was killed in that quake but the residents of Tabriz were frightened and have been sleeping outside in the streets and in public parks.

An Iranian resident on the rubble of his home in the village of Baje-Baj near Varzaquan, Iran. On 8/12/12 as rescue workers above, search for survivors of the two earthquakes. Photo credit, Atta Kenare/AFP

Post earthquake conditions reveal needs for compassion and aid to brother and sister human beings. First of all it’s difficult for people in the US to respond when we’ve been told over and over that Iran is our enemy. But it can still be done. What makes it so much more difficult for Americans, even Iranian Americans to send aid to the earthquake victims is the vicious sanctions that are in place that forbid any financial transactions with Iran. Many other nations have now offered aid through their embassies in Iran but people in the US face barriers.

Here’s what Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, suggested:

What we’re asking for is that President Obama does exactly the same thing as President Bush did in 2003 when there was a massive earthquake in Bam in Iran. President Bush, at that moment, I think within four or five days, issued a general license, meaning that the American people would have no constraints on their ability to show their humanity and generosity and make donations to the victims of the earthquake in the city of Bam. And we saw massive outpouring of support from the American public, including of course Iranian Americans, and teams of Americans going there to help rebuild, to help the victims, to find bodies, etc. And it was a very positive thing.

Right now, however, the Obama administration has not taken that action. There’s a whole new web and complexity of sanctions that probably makes such a decision more difficult, but at the same time, the only thing that the Obama administration has done so far is to promise that licenses, to be able to go and operate in Iran or to make donations to Iran, would be expedited. We don’t think that is enough. […]

At the end of the day, these sanctions, according to the Obama administration itself, were not meant to hurt the people of Iran; it was meant to put pressure on the Iranian government to change its nuclear calculus. But we’re seeing increasingly that the real victims of these sanctions … is not the government of Iran; the real victims are the ordinary people in Iran who unfortunately don’t have much of an opportunity to put pressure on their government to change the policies. They’re not responsible for the policies of the Iranian government, because Iran, at the end of the day, is not a democracy. So we’re seeing this pressure being misdirected, hitting the wrong people. And nowhere else is it as clear as when you have an earthquake and you see that the type of help that the American people usually like to give now is being prohibited, partly because the Iranians took a very long time before they accepted donations and help from the outside, but mainly because of the sanctions that do exist.

18 Responses

I am very sorry innocent people in Iran were injured by the earthquake. I have trouble donating to any relief projects unless assured it will not support the evil government in any way (who just yesterday announced the Israel’s existence is an insult to all humanity). Money is fungible so it may be difficult to only donate to earthquake relief. I think I will reserve my donations for Wounded Warrior Project and Red Mogen David.

Peter, This is exactly the lack of compassion that I’m talking about in the second half of the article. Because you deem the Iranian government “evil” that allows you, and much of the media to ignore the suffering of the Iranian people in the villages that were destroyed on August 11th. No one is asking you to give personally but our government needs to make a path for those who do want to give easier than it is now. That includes many Iranian-Americans who want to send financial aid and other kinds of goods and supplies.

Another aspect of this is the poisoned message contained within your comment. If you or anyone else is worried about where the money is going then there are legitimate organizations such as the International Red Crescent and others to which relief funds can be donated. What still remains is the sanctions barrier which hasn’t been lifted in this disaster.

#1, Peter, it is indeed difficult to know where one’s money goes when one donates in this day and age. We have seen domestic non-profits with charitable purposes sullied by executives receiving outrageous salaries, and we have seen such organizations spend too much on other kinds of overhead in relation to the direct delivery of aid.

We know too many NGO’S in various parts of the world have lost touch with the heart of their missions and do not respect the wishes of the locals who have great insight into where and how aid ought to be utilized.

Nonetheless there are ways to check out the reputations and functions of charitable groups…whole web sites are devoted to this.

In my own opinion, such groups as OXFAM and Doctors Without Borders do know pretty much what they are doing in disaster areas. They give aid directly or through local citizen organizations and do not funnel huge sums to foreign governments. Peter, if earthquake victims in Iran are not among your chosen recipients regardless of the option of donating to the type of group I mentioned, it is important for other people to know that aid can be directly channeled to where it is needed if one chooses one’s mechanism carefully.

Sometimes in the past I have given to organizations of people from India or Pakistan who live in this country and who have organized good relief efforts when disasters, floods,earthquakes, etc., have occurred back in India or Pakistan. There may be Iranian American groups that are spearheading relief efforts for the victims of the recent earthquakes in Iran.

Thanks Linda for your excellent summary of ways to give aid to the Iranian earthquake victims. The organizations that you mentioned in your next to last paragraph are excellent ones and I donate to them each year because of the good work that they do all around the world.

I wanted to return to the first part of the article dealing with why it’s not in the US or Israel’s interests to attack Iran.

To expand slightly on the US self interest reasons to avoid a military attack on Iran here’s some research that didn’t make it into our leaflet:

There are reasons why a war with Iran would have at least twice the cost [in money and in human lives lost] as have the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. The larger population and armed forces and the vast geographic landscape would make a big difference.

Iran is the 18th largest country in the world today. It also has a population of 80 million people. In contrast Iraq was the 58th largest with a population of about 34 million and Afghanistan is the 42nd largest nation with a population of only 28 million.

Another significant factor is the location of Iran, with the ability to block the Strait of Hormuz and to inflict grave damage on US interests in Iraq and other surrounding countries. It could also retaliate against Israel with missiles and other forms of military attacks if Israel launches an often threatened military attack.

Here’s what former Knesset member and current Israeli peace activist, Uri Avnery, had to say about this in a recent article:

…The Persian Gulf is a bottle, whose neck is the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which is totally controlled by Iran. The huge American aircraft carriers now stationed in the gulf will be well advised to get out before it is too late. They resemble those antique sailing ships which enthusiasts assemble in bottles. Even the powerful weaponry of the US will not be able to keep the strait open. Simple land-to-sea missiles will be quite enough to keep it closed for months. To open it, a prolonged land operation by the US and its allies will be required. A long and bloody business with unpredictable consequences.

A major part of the world’s oil supplies has to pass through this unique waterway. Even the mere threat of its closure will cause oil prices to shoot sky-high. Actual hostilities will result in a worldwide economic collapse, with hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of new unemployed. […]

Washington D.C.– Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) led 14 Members of Congress in requesting that President Obama allow U.S. non-governmental organizations to provide humanitarian assistance to the victims of the recent earthquake in Iran which has left more 300 dead and thousands injured. U.S.-based humanitarian organizations are currently prohibited from doing so without a Presidentially issued general license under current U.S. sanctions against Iran. Kucinich has previously called upon the United States to take this opportunity to demonstrate our compassion for the people of Iran.

“We write to express our concern over the possible hindrance of humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people. We urge you to instruct the Department of Treasury to expedite consideration of requests by U.S.-based nonprofits to provide emergency relief, and to issue a general license for these charitable organizations to carry out relief assistance in Iran,” wrote Kucinich et al.

Under current U.S. sanctions, relief organizations require a license from the government to provide humanitarian assistance in Iran. In 2003, President Bush issued such a general license in response to the devastating earthquake in Bam, Iran. The House of Representatives strongly supported this response, and unanimously passed a resolution praising President Bush’s actions.

“The current standstill in negotiations with the Iranian government should not prevent the United States from helping the Iranian people. Aiding them in their time of need would reaffirm U.S. support for the Iranian people and make clear that our sanctions do not represent an attempt to harm the Iranian people.

“In order to facilitate the timely and lawful delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people, we urge the administration to immediately clarify what is permitted and prohibited under U.S. law, and to issue a general license to U.S. humanitarian organizations so they can provide critical assistance to Iranians in need,” the letter concluded.[…]

Gunga Dan, I believe that you need to take some responsibility for what you choose to post to our blog. We won’t publish three year old hate videos using guilt by association such as the one you tried to post by Jim Geraghty of the National Review, or a rehash of a very old right wing attack on the Department of Homeland Security which turned out to be a big tempest in a teapot. Again, several years old with only the repsonse by Janet Napoletano reported on the national news. It reminds me of the Andrew Breitbart stuff that you used to try to post in the past. Goddess knows I have plenty of criticisms of the Department of Homeland Security and it’s behavior myself but they don’t include the idea that Muslims have infiltrated it, which is just wacky!

So why not post this hateful, deceitful polarizing stuff? Because you use it to try to pick a partisan fight instead of addressing the topic at hand, which in the case of that post was Islamophobia and the use of guilt by association — or discrediting an entire agency through specious attacks. Since we don’t want to invite you to do a thread hijack and/or add hate speech to the comments we won’t post such materials. I guess that it was on topic in the sense that you provided a perfect example of how that guilt by association thing is done. But right now on the previous article, we’re talking about Congressional misbehavior not that of right wing pundits.

To return to the comment that you tried to make on this article you emphasized that Israel has a very well organized medical emergency network that happens to include some armored ambulances and many professional and volunteer workers and that the organization is called the Red Star of David, a Red Cross type of organization. So what? How does that relate to the need for compassion for the Iranian people or to the need to prevent a war or military attack against Iran?

If you want to stop commenting that’s fine but if you’d like to share your own ideas and relevant materials then that would be even better.

Here’s an update on US Treasury exemptions now granted for earthquake relief to Iran. This is a positive development after much pressure from US citizens asking for this exemption on humanitarian grounds:

United States Grants Broad Sanctions Exemption for Iran Quake Aid
Rick Gladstone, New York Times, August 21, 2012,

The United States cleared the way on Tuesday for American charities to expedite relief to the victims of the double earthquake that struck Iran more than two weeks ago, issuing the charities a temporary but broad exemption to the regimen of economic sanctions imposed on that country over its disputed nuclear energy program.

The exemption, announced by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which oversees the sanctions, authorizes charities “to collect funds to be used in direct support of humanitarian relief and reconstruction activities in response to the earthquake.” The exemption, which expires on Oct. 5, permits the charities to transfer up to $300,000 each to relief and rebuilding efforts, bypassing the restrictions on financial transactions that are enforced under the sanctions. […]

“This humanitarian gesture will empower the American people to help Iranians who’ve lost everything to this terrible natural disaster,” David Elliott, assistant policy director at the National Iranian American Council, a Washington-based group that represents Americans of Iranian descent, said on the group’s Web site. “The White House should be commended for ensuring that emergency relief efforts won’t be held hostage to the bad relations between the two countries.” […]

Have you considered the realistic possibility, Mickie Lynn, that, “much pressure from US citizens asking for this exemption on humanitarian grounds” very likely didn’t have a darn thing to do with the decision by a government that YOU keeps trying to paint as the world’s greatest villan.

This decision may very well have followed the same exact careful consideration that has produced similar leadership to deal with humanitarian efforts all over the globe during my entire lifetime. I wonder if Mr.Elliott might provide some examples of prior instances where the U.S. has allowed, “emergency relief efforts (to be) be held hostage to the bad relations between (our) two countries”. Multiple generations have wittnessed the United States consistently step aside from differences, petty or otherwise, with other nations to accept our responsibility as fellow human beings in times of emergency, even when the victims are those in the most intolerant and belligerant nations that are exposed to nature’s wrath.

Just in case you may not have been paying attention for the past 50+ years, leading the world in huimanitarian relief efforts is what the United States does, has done and will very likely continue to do, with or without, the whining or complaining of those who only see the American glass less than half full.

Albert Jim,
Your statement about US aid is pretty simplistic. Here’s an article that ranges from 1970 to the current year. It indicates among other things that dollar amounts are not the best indicator of motivations or of generosity. There are many factors including the type of aid, how many of the aid dollars actually go to the nation being aided, what conditions are attached, what geopolitical motives are involved, and many more. I’ll just quote a few segments from a long report on these topics:

In 1970, the world’s rich countries agreed to give 0.7% of their GNI (Gross National Income) as official international development aid, annually. Since that time, despite billions given each year, rich nations have rarely met their actual promised targets. For example, the US is often the largest donor in dollar terms, but ranks amongst the lowest in terms of meeting the stated 0.7% target.

Furthermore, aid has often come with a price of its own for the developing nations:
• Aid is often wasted on conditions that the recipient must use overpriced goods and services from donor countries
• Most aid does not actually go to the poorest who would need it the most
• Aid amounts are dwarfed by rich country protectionism that denies market access for poor country products, while rich nations use aid as a lever to open poor country markets to their products
• Large projects or massive grand strategies often fail to help the vulnerable as money can often be embezzled away

Some interesting observations can be made about the amount of aid. For example:
• USA’s aid, in terms of percentage of their GNP has almost always been lower than any other industrialized nation in the world, though paradoxically since 2000, their dollar amount has been the highest.
• Between 1992 and 2000, Japan had been the largest donor of aid, in terms of raw dollars. From 2001 the United States claimed that position, a year that also saw Japan’s amount of aid drop by nearly 4 billion dollars.

The CGD therefore attempts to factor in some quality measures based on their commitment to development for the world’s poor. This index considers aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology.

Their result shows the Netherlands first, Japan last, and the US ranking thirteenth, just behind the United Kingdom, out of 21 total. As David Roodman notes in his announcement of the 2006 Commitment to Development Index, “As in the past, the G-7 ‘leading industrial nations’ have not led on the [Commitment to Development Index]; Germany, top among them, is in 9th place overall.

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” — Dom Hélder Câmara

“Goddess knows”… yet another hysterical Freudian slip… by the Peace Waging Goddess and know-er of all things including what lies in every human’s heart. Perhaps I am wrong, and that was purposeful. And for one who loves sources, your post is lacking…. I would love to see the backup for your accounting of Albany County’s war expenses… beyond the reality that we are so far in debt the best course is to cut all spending, lower taxes and governmental intrusions and re-set our priorities as a nation.

Mitch, Since your comment is less nasty than many [of yours] that we haven’t posted, we’ll post it and reply to your questions. First the use of “Goddess knows” was completely deliberate. Many religions in the world have Goddesses as well as Gods and in the case of monotheistic religions many deities have a feminine component. In my religion Shekinah is the feminine aspect of God.

To answer your question about sources. The best source for such breakdowns of expenses and for the comparisons with domestic spending is a website called National Priorities.org. You can go there to see what they have to say on the subject. http://www.nationalpriorities.org

Generally Mickie and her fellow moderators are critical of US govt actions, even charitable ones. As for why they feel this way, you will have to ask them. I happen to be quite compassionate and very charitable. I draw the line at giving rope to folks who want to hang me but, I have no objection to aid that helps earthquake victims in Iran as long as it goes to them thru Red Cerscent or however and not to Iran’s bloodthirsty government. The Iranian people are good people and deserve a free government not an evil tyranny.

Not that it matters to anyone, except you Mickie Lynn, although James (Jim) is a fine name, it’s not my name. I can’t tell who the CGD is, or what their interpretations, or “factors” are intended to ential, but as any thinking person should well understand, statistics in the hands of agenda driven manipulators can be used to paint an unending variety of pictures, to support or diminish, virtually any preconception.

There are many ways to stack results, total dollar value would be one, percentage of GDP another. I might suggest, however, you might consider the scope of benefit provided, which might elevate the “total dollar value” component somewhat, as it applies to actual results.

Sometimes “simplistic” assessment of actual results proves a lot more informing than statistical accuracy manipulated to include “factors” specifically designed to produce, and support, preconceived agenda notions.

Albert J, I was told that your real name is Jim. That’s why I combined Jim [or James if you prefer] with your pseudonym, Albert J., The particular one that you use on our blog comments.

If you really want to know what the CGD is here’s a link to their “about us” page which has a couple of videos and a discussion of how and why they were founded and who the founding members were. From what I’ve read on their site their major “agenda” is to contribute to the most effective use of development aid.

Here’s the beginning of their mission statement:

The Center for Global Development works to reduce global poverty and inequality through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy community to make the world a more prosperous, just, and safe place for us all.

The policies and practices of the rich and the powerful—in rich nations, as well as in the emerging powers, international institutions, and global corporations—have significant impacts on the world’s poor people. We aim to improve these policies and practices through research and policy engagement to expand opportunities, reduce inequalities, and improve lives everywhere.
By pairing research with action, CGD goes beyond contributing to knowledge about development. We conceive of and advocate for practical policy innovations in areas such as trade, aid, health, education, climate change, labor mobility, private investment, access to finance, and global governance to foster shared prosperity in an increasingly interdependent world.

As a nimble, independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit think tank, we leverage modest resources to combine world-class scholarly research with policy analysis and innovative outreach and communications to turn ideas into action. […]

They then go on to expand on the description with specifics. If you’d really like to learn more their site is quite useful.

What a shock, apparently your “source”, divulging my middle name, happened to be simply, WRONG. I wonder if that means any number of your “sources” and “citations” might also happen to be just as wrong about whatever they are so convinced they are right about.

Albert J, is simply my name. The “J” is for the same name as my mother’s brother who died too young, and really shouldn’t matter to you or anyone else.

Reading the Mission Statement, you reference above, is quite enough to persuade me that the Center for Global Development is just another gaggle of liberal blowhards overly impressed with themselves who are convinced they are a lot smarter than they actually are, who are compelled to “help the less intelligent amongst us” by sharing their, self described, wisdom.

An organization with the ego and pomposity to describe themselves as, “works to reduce global poverty and inequality through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy community to make the world a more prosperous, just, and safe place for us all.”, comes across as just a tad overly impressed with themselves.

It would be a lot more impressive if comments like, “CGD goes beyond contributing to knowledge about development. We conceive of and advocate for practical policy innovations in areas such as trade, aid, health, education, climate change, labor mobility, private investment, access to finance, and global governance to foster shared prosperity in an increasingly interdependent world”, were made by outsiders evauating actual performance, than self congratulatory assessments of intentions.

Self assessments of, “As a nimble, independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit think tank, we leverage modest resources to combine world-class scholarly research with policy analysis and innovative outreach and communications to turn ideas into action”, although slick and wonderful as they sound, unfortunately have little value or credibility when uttered about ones self.

Actually, this type of blatant self promotion, consistently repeated in certain blog summaries, whose primary objective seems to be aimed at establishing, or shining, self constructed halos of righteousness and superior moral standing, far above the sad minions who are deemed eligible to read postings, but require careful review and censoring prior to actual posting of a thought, observation or dare I suggest questioning the lecturing of one of the elite disseminators of approved wisdom.

The Mission Statement you’ve shared above really tells me all I need to know about CDG, as just another, in a long line, of self absorbed, self described, “nimble, independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit think tank” convinced that their superior, and myopic, view of all situations is the only perspective worth considering, or evaluating.

Albert J.”, All of those words in your long comment just to say something so inaccurate!
Your rejection of a source such as the Center for Global Development as

“a gaggle of liberal blowhards overly impressed with themselves who are convinced they are a lot smarter than they actually are.”

Isn’t surprising or out of the ordinary for you.

The problem is that you’re flat out wrong!

Here’s a description of the three original founding members:

CGD was founded in November 2001 by Edward W. Scott, Jr., C. Fred Bergsten and Nancy Birdsall.

A technology entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former senior U.S. government official, Ed provided the vision and a significant financial commitment that made the creation of the Center possible.

Fred, the director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, lent his formidable reputation in academic and policy circles as well as providing the fledgling Center with a roof and logistical support within the Peterson Institute for its initial months of operation.

Nancy, a former head of the World Bank research department and executive vice president of the Inter-American Development Bank, became CGD’s first president. Her intellectual leadership and the rare combination of being both hard-headed and soft-hearted about development attracted a cadre of researchers and other professionals who are deeply dedicated to CGD’s mission.

“The Mission Statement you’ve shared above really tells me all I need to know about CDG, as just another, in a long line, of self absorbed, self described, “nimble, independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit think tank” convinced that their superior, and myopic, view of all situations is the only perspective worth considering, or evaluating.”

To help you do a bit of a reality check — and to help other readers discover just how little accuracy there is at the root of your long rant, Here’s a link to the “about us” part of the website complete with videos and more information that firmly establishes their credentials and substantiates their work over the last five years.

The Washington Post reprinted on Tuesday a Financial Times report that indicated that U.S. sanctions on Iran were making it difficult for Iranian doctors and hospitals to provide health care to sick patients.

“The tightening of U.S. banking sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program has had an impact on all sectors of the economy but is increasingly hitting vulnerable medical patients as deliveries of medicine and raw materials for Iranian pharmaceutical companies are either stopped or delayed, according to medical experts.”

But, but, you ask, how can that be? Doesn’t U.S. law permit exports of medicine to Iran even under the new sanctions? Well, yes, in theory, but in practice, maybe not. The article points out difficulty in delivering raw materials to pharmaceutical factories in Iran as one factor, but U.S. law has only permitted exports of medicines, not raw products for medicines, so there’s nothing new here.

Perhaps it’s this:

‘”We hold a license from the OFAC, but our imports have dropped by more than half while we pay much more than before,” one importer said.[…]

Read the entire brief report for more details

Note: The Times Union is not responsible for posts and comments written by non-staff members.

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